Automobile-wheel.



A. C. DUNHAM.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1914.

v r Maw unufw Mm 5% A.-C. DUNHAM.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, I914.

, 1,150,018. Patented'Aug. 17, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W 1 I MC 4 6747mm UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

AUSTIN C. DUNHAM, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

AUTOMOBILE-WHEEL.

express matter between communities at a distance from each. other, although it is, of course, useful for other purposes.

Freight and express matter, as well as passengers, are carried on interurban and suburban lines in cars which run on metallic,

tracks for the reason that higher speed can be attained with smaller expenditure of energy and fuel and less wear on the parts, than when the vehicles are run on highway roads. This method of transportation, however, necessitates the collecting of the par- 1 cels of merchandise or the gathering of passengers to be transported, from various 1ocalities and carrying them over a highway to a station or the line where they are transferred from the collectin vehicle to the cars on the track, then at t e desired locality along or at the end of the line unloading and transporting them over a highway to the lace of delivery.

T e object of the invention is to so construct an automobile running gear that the vehicle can be used on an ordinary highwayfor collecting freight, express or passengers from any locality, and then run on the rails of a suburban or interurban track to the point desired at which it is run ofi from the rails onto the highway and the freight, express or passengers delivered at the desired ocalities, thus utilizing the advantages of track transportation when feasible and avoiding rehandling or transferring of the goods or passengers at both the points of starting and ending of the track run. This eliminates the time and labor incident to two rehandlings, also the danger of breakage incident to the transfer of freight, and effects the collection and transportations of goods and passengers with convenience to the patrons and a saving of time, fuel and Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedAug. 1'7, 1915.

Application filed June 13, 1914. Serial No. 844,870.

wear both to the vehicle and to the highway. To accomplish this object the vehicle is provided with flanged wheels of the usual type designed to run on the ordinary rails of the track in common use, which wheels on the outside have hubs upon which the common form of pneumatic or cushion tires, usually applied to automobiles or trucks, can be quickly placed or removed so that when the vehicle is to be used on the highway it will run on the yielding treads with the rail flanges lifted so that they will not touch the surface of the ground.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention represents a side View of a freight or express truck provided with a running gear which embodies this invention. Fig. 2 shows on larger scales a pair of the wheels of this vehicle arranged for running on a highway. Fig. 3 shows a pair of the wheels arranged for running on rails.

The body 1 of the vehicle may be of any common form or style designed for passengers or goods and it may be provided with any type of engine or motor, either gasolene or electric. The frame 2 which supports the body may be of the usual construction and the axles 3 are of common form and are connected with the driving mechanism and steering gear in the usual way.

Each wheel 4 has a tread surface 5 designed to run on a rail and on the inside has a flange 6 arranged as usual to keep the wheel on the rail. This tread and flange are of the form approved for use on the common traction rail. Extending outward from each wheel is a felly 7, which is of less diameter than the rail tread of the wheel. This felly is shaped to receive a flanged band 8 holding a rim 9 containing a common form of cushion or pneumatic tire 10. The band may be fastened on to the felly by any of the commonmeans usually employed for fastening on the rim of an automobile wheel, such as the clips 11 and bolts 12.

At the end of the track run or at other convenient places therails may be slightly raised or depression may be made at the side of the rails so that the highway wheels may be easily put on or removed as the case may be. By t is very simple means the vehicle can be quickly equipped so as to have the freedom or independence of a highway run or the speed and economy of a track said tread carried by said wheel, andayieldrun. ing tire of larger diameter than said flange The invention. claimed is': detachably mounted on said felly. A motor .Vehicle Wheel having a traek AUSTIN C. DUNHAM. 5 tread, a flange on the inside of said tread of Witnesses: I

larger diameter than said tread, a laterally E. S. HUTTING,

projecting felly of smaller diameter than JOHN E. LYNCH. 

